


coax our vineyard through

by Anonymous



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Culture, F/M, Fire Nation Politics (Avatar), Friendship, Gen, Letters, Mentioned Natural Disasters, Minor Mai/Zuko, Politics, Post-Canon, Secret Identity, Worldbuilding, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28930764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Zuko never meant for it to bethisbig of a secret.After the war, Zuko publishes a book, writes legislation about the arts in the Fire Nation, thanks Sokka for being the best friend a person could ask for, and sees a play. Not necessarily in that order.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57
Collections: Five Figure Fanwork Exchange 2020





	coax our vineyard through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FeatheryMinx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatheryMinx/gifts).



> "We treat the past as trellis, coax our vineyard through and around, and harvest is not a word for swiftness; the future harvests us, stomps us into wine, pours us back into the root system in loving libation, and we grow stronger and more potent together." - This Is How You Lose The Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Zuko never meant for it to be _this_ big of a secret. 

The thing is, he’d set his own schedule for so long, that he’d nearly forgotten that to be in residence at the royal palace means having every minute of his time dictated by one thing or another. There is always a dressing session to go to, or a meeting with a minister or three to attend. 

It isn’t like being on his ship, where everyone had to pitch in to work, but everyone got downtime too. It isn’t like being in Ba Sing Se, where he had to work at the tea shop but even that felt like a holiday after the trials he had been through. Living in the Fire Palace means he’s constantly under scrutiny not just from his court but from _himself_ – is he really ready to do this? Is it really right for him to be the one to take the throne, to lead his people away from a century of war? His uncle thinks so, but sometimes Zuko thinks that his uncle would say anything to avoid being crowned. He doesn’t blame him, not really. The thought of his uncle doing the day to day life that he’s now living in is almost beyond him. 

He slips back into it like a long forgotten jumper, used far too rarely but knitted with thought for the future. He used to live like this, when he was younger. Lessons, lunch, lessons, dinner, lessons. He at least got some time to himself to play in the grounds, and he mournfully thinks about that as he reads another bill that has been put forward. He’s lucky to have Mai here to help him. Without her sharp wit and innate understanding of politics and the politicians who are playing this game with them, he’s certain that half a dozen crucial things would have slipped under the radar. She’s a bedrock that he can rely on to not lie to him about anything. 

He only feels a little bit guilty about hiding this from her, then. She’d probably be interested if he told her, and she’d probably help him with some of the parts where he gets stuck, but he needs something apart from it all. Something to be separate from the daily life of running around the palace from meeting to meeting, whether they be with poor Fire Nation citizens seeking a new life, or secretive missives from the White Lotus. 

It’s no good if it impacts his daily life; even so, Zuko finds himself tapping a pen against his chin thoughtfully, looking down at the missive in front of him. His study door is closed, but he’d still locked it before opening this, paranoid that someone would see it and accuse him of neglecting his duties as the Fire Lord. 

_Dante,_

_Your latest manuscript is amazing – for a first draft. I’ve sent back a full and complete revision (you should thank me!! It took a long time!!) attached to this letter. The first half is full of promise, but I think that you need to tighten up the middle arc especially, which will help with the final punch of the ending scenes. I also recommend shortening the character roster. If this is going to become a play in the future (and it’s good enough that I think it will be) your audience will thank you. I’ve made notes to this effect in the manuscript as well. I expect you to write to me more often when you’re editing this time around! Your last two books were well received, but being your editor sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out. Please don’t make this another such experience._

_I wish your pen all speed,_

_Amara_

Zuko sighs. Writing has always been more of a hobby than anything else, but like Mai so often tells him, he just doesn’t know how to slow down. Almost two years into his reign as Fire Lord and he has two published books, both of which had grown from a ‘cult following’ into a genuinely popular presence in the mainstream. The second book is in production to become a play, despite his protests at the thought. Amara had told him that either he could have a say in it, or it would be produced by someone else out in the isles. Her publishing house is small, but Uncle had recommended it, and Zuko knows that his work is their best money maker now. 

The reason he doesn’t write back to her often is that instead of editing things slowly as she likely thinks, he does it all in a rush on nights where meetings are cancelled, or when something finishes early and he finally has a second to himself. Another reason why he doesn’t think his books deserve the fame that Amara is giving him; he knows that he could do far better work if he was given the opportunity to do this in a more regular manner. 

He pulls a fresh sheet of paper to himself in order to write back, and has to stop himself from adding all the flourishes to the letterhead that he would normally put on any letter that he pens. 

_Hello Amara,_

_Message and manuscript received. I haven’t had time to read it yet, but my deepest thanks for your help on tightening up the narrative. I’ll see what I can do in regards to sending you more frequent updates, but like I’ve said before, my personal life is frantic enough that when I do sit down to write, I want to focus on the words in front of me before all else. I’ll keep your letter in mind when I do make any progress._

_Dante Basco_

The pen name is something odd too. He recognises the wisdom in it, and of course if he didn’t use it then everyone would know that he was working on writing stories instead of laws, but he wishes that Amara at least knew who he was. But he’s never met her in person, even if she was recommended by Uncle, so it’s safer to be anonymous. Another thing he hasn’t quite shaken from his travels all around the world. 

Zuko rolls it up and digs out the seal that he uses only for his letters to Amara. Tomorrow he’ll slip it into the post, and no one will be the wiser as to who sent the letter in the first place. He looks forlornly at the returned manuscript, bursting with notes and snippets and Amara’s thoughts, and instead of opening it he tucks it away in his bookshelf to be looked at later. There’s a discussion tomorrow in the General’s room about the effort to clean up after the tornado that went through the inner southern islands a week ago, and he needs to know what resources he has available to deploy before going into the meeting so he can make sure that everyone gets the most help that he can give. 

There’s no time to be thinking about his book and the plucky young adventurer who takes the spotlight in it. Zuko makes himself put the thoughts away, and turns back to his desk so he can keep working. 

* * *

“So I was thinking, guys night out? You Fire Nation dudes know how to party, right? Coming from Kui’s court I feel like my sense of what having a good time is has been _completely_ skewed, and I’m not asking for a _Water Tribe_ party even though that would be the best… unless Katara is around?” 

Sokka blinks his eyes in what is probably meant to be a pleading manner. He’s still wearing a strange mix of Earth green and Water blue, clothes mismatched both in colour and style. Zuko has no idea why Sokka chose to combine them for his outfit today. 

“I haven’t seen your sister in almost half a year,” Zuko tells Sokka wryly. “And I don’t know if I have time to go out tonight.” He _definitely_ doesn’t have time to go out tonight. 

“You _never_ have time,” Sokka tells him seriously, and Zuko wonders if people from the Water Tribe can read mind. Katara can do it often enough when she’s around him. “Zuko, I’m serious, you have to learn to take a break sometimes. I talk to Mai and she’s all depressing like normal except then she starts telling me facts about your life and _I_ get depressed about it. Not cool! We have to do something about this.” 

“If you have time to gossip with Mai you have time to help me read this,” Zuko tells him, throwing him a scroll. Sokka fumbles the catch and ends up with it in his face, but it only takes him a second to reorient himself. 

“Plan for the reinvigoration of the public sector for the arts in lower Caldera town,” Sokka reads out dutifully. “You spend time on this?” 

It’s probably one of the bills that no one but Zuko considers a priority. Still, he gets updates from Amara about how people all across the nation only have limited access to plays, new literature or any other type of entertainment, and he’s determined to do something about it. If this all works out here in the Caldera, then he can look into expanding the program for the rest of the Fire Nation. If it doesn’t, then he can keep an eye on things and tweak as needed. Either way, he wants this to work. 

“I do spend time on it,” he tells Sokka. “And it’s important. There aren’t any people alive now who were born before the start of the war. All the people have known is propaganda for their entire lives. We need to combat that, and this is one of the best ways to do so.” 

“Huh,” Sokka says, His brow furrows as he concentrates, and Zuko tries not to find it endearing. “I guess. It’s still weird to see all this paper. You know–”

“Water Tribespeople pass down all their stories orally, yes I do know,” Zuko finishes for him. “But we don’t live in the arctic, and we have access to bamboo paper which means we can afford to write things down. Just read that and let me know if anything jumps out at you as needing to be changed.” 

He turns back to his own sheaf of papers, which is about a more boring proposal to put in another aqueduct in the lower city. He really should get someone on the people’s council to deal with these – what does he know about construction? Only the best way to destroy a house as fast as possible. Asking him about building aqueducts is as useful as asking the turtleducks in the pond outside. Maybe the turtleducks might even know better – they swim all day, so they should know something about how water works. 

“Have you been down to the lower city to see what’s there right now?” Sokka asks him fifteen minutes later. He’s flipped through a few pages of the scroll, and Zuko is glad that he’s decided to take it seriously. 

“Not lately,” Zuko admits. He’d gone last year to see a play, but he knows how much can change in a year. “Why?” 

Sokka grins. “Because I think I need a lot more context to understand what you’re talking about here; _and_ I think you need to see what’s there before you start legislating it. You can’t build a house before you lay the foundations.” 

“I’m not – that’s not–”

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Sokka says, and he won’t hear anything else on the matter. 

* * *

_Dante,_

_Your words don’t fill me with much confidence. It’s already been over a week and since your initial reply I haven’t received anything! An update, a thought… let me know what you think. The storm that swept through the southern islands the week before last has set everything back at the publishing house (don’t worry, your work wasn’t affected) so I doubt that I’ll be able to have time to properly correspond with you anyway._

_Don’t use that as an excuse, however! I expect you instead to see this as a way to make sure my life is as messy and complicated as possible, and send me half a dozen letters over the next month. That would keep in character with how most of our interactions have been over these past few years._

_I joke, don’t worry. But know that I want to hear from you! If only to make sure that you were untouched by the storm. It cut through several of the lower lying islands, and I have yet to get in contact with two other of my authors. I know you live in the Caldera, but a reassurance that you weren’t effected would still be nice._

_We’re still kicking down here. It will take more than this to upset our business, not when it seems that the hunger for new stories only grows every day. I look forward to hearing from you soon._

_Amara_

* * *

Sokka doesn’t dress any differently to go into the city than what he might wear walking around the palace. Zuko spends half an hour fretting about what he’s going to wear, and even more about skipping the evening meeting with the local shopkeeper’s union. Sokka and Mai had teamed up on him and Mai had promised to cover for him at the meeting, but it’s hard to let it go. 

“But what if–”

“Your girlfriend has this,” Sokka says, steering them out of one of the many entrances to the grounds. Zuko flips his hood up, even though being by Sokka’s side is almost an indicator of his identity in and of itself. He’d argued with his guards to let them out by themselves, but he’s pretty sure that Sokka said something to them to before they’d been let through, which is ridiculous. It’s supposed to be his palace. Zuko lets a breath out and tries to relax. He doesn’t leave the palace often enough… he should make the most of it while he can. 

“The last time I was here there were these _great_ squid things that were spicy but also sweet? If we could grab some of those, we’d already be winning.” Sokka peers into the late afternoon. The city is sprawled out below them, and Zuko takes in the unfamiliar perspective. Even though he looks out his window everyday, there’s a difference between that and actually getting to walk the streets. 

“They’re seasonal,” Zuko tells him, grabbing at his arm so he can start steering them down the path. “The squid migrate just past the caldera islands, so they’re plentiful, then but not so much now.” 

“Aw,” Sokka says, drooping. Zuko watches almost in disbelief as he almost visibly shakes it off, perking up again in short order. “Well, I guess I just have to find a new favourite. Got anything to recommend?” 

“Yeah,” Zuko says, after a pause. Sokka is looking at him expectantly, so he casts around for something that he might like. “It’s on the way.” 

“Awesome,” Sokka says, almost visibly drooling. “ _Don’t_ tell Katara this, but Fire Nation food can really be the best.” 

“I’m not making any promises.” 

“Hey!” Sokka pouts at him, but Zuko has seen far better puppy eyes than his. He just lifts his eyebrow in response. 

“I use what advantages I can get.” 

Sokka sighs. “Being a politician has made you jaded.” 

He’s probably right, but Zuko is also equally sure that he was already walking down this path while he was still banished. “Blame the people I talk to on a daily basis.” 

“Ha! I’ll tell Mai you said that.” 

Zuko snorts. “She’ll probably agree with you.” 

“Damn it.” 

When they make it into the more crowded city streets rather than the ones that lead up to the Fire Lord’s palace, there’s more people moving about than Zuko thought for this time of day. The sun is inching towards the horizon, but it won’t set for a time yet. Maybe Sokka is right, and he does need to get out and about more often. Zuko looks at people as they pass, trying to see how they fare. Is everyone eating enough food? Does everyone have somewhere safe to sleep at night? Does everyone feel secure, even in the still tender peace? These things keep him up more nights than they don’t, and if he can gather some evidence that might make it just a little bit easier to sleep at night. 

“Ooh, what’s that?” 

Zuko let’s himself get dragged towards the shop that Sokka had spotted. As he bargains with the vendor, Zuko watches the people who walk past. He used to slip out of the palace far more often immediately after they had retook the capital; sometimes with Mai or Sokka, and sometimes alone. In comparison to back then, he likes to think that generally people look happier, now. That they walk taller, and without having to look over their shoulder. He takes petitions from the general public twice a week, but he gets through so few of them each session. How do they really feel about him? 

“Look at this!” Sokka exclaims, brandishing a belt at him. It’s embossed and tiny details have been carved into the leather, forming a spiral pattern that Zuko recognises as a style that evolved in the eastern isles. “Isn’t it neat?” 

“It is,” Zuko agrees. 

“Okay, some light shopping done, check. Now show me the grub,” Sokka directs. Zuko dutifully leads on. He keeps his head low so that no one will be able to look under his hood without him noticing. It’s not like he _wants_ to avoid people knowing who he is – it’s just that if he stops to talk to everyone who would want to talk to Fire Lord Zuko, they would never get Sokka his dinner, let alone investigate the lower city. 

He shows Sokka some of the seasonal food that’s around the city, young bamboo shoots mixed in with migrating fish and fresh fruit. The woman who serves it to them pinches Sokka’s cheeks and insists on giving it to them for free despite Zuko’s protests. She forms the Flame with her hands and bows, ever so slightly, smiling at Zuko while her son skillfully serves Sokka a plate. 

“Hey,” Sokka protests, just as Zuko whisks him away, promising to come back later to pay the stall owners properly when he has the time. Sokka looks at him out of the corner of his eye as they push through the small crowds. “You really don’t want anyone spotting you, huh?” 

“Do you want to see a play tonight or not?” Zuko asks him. 

Sokka makes a thoughtful sound. “You _really_ don’t get out much, do you?” 

“Not as much as I’d like,” Zuko mutters. “Come on. We’re going to have to run if we want to make it on time.” 

“You have somewhere that we’re actually going to?” Sokka asks, perking up. 

“Of course,” Zuko says. “Why do you think I even agreed to this in the first place?” 

The playhouse that they end up in isn’t the fancy one that Zuko comes to when he’s here in an official capacity. Instead it’s slightly run down, but obviously well used with the amount of foot traffic currently going through the doors. Zuko notes that mostly it seems to be middle class people entering the theatre, which makes sense. It’s a little too rustic for anyone with proper money, and those who are going without don’t have enough to spend on such things. Another thing he needs to take into consideration. 

“You seem pretty familiar with this all,” Sokka says after Zuko has bought their entrance tickets and leads Sokka directly to one of the more secluded corners. They don’t get as good a view, but they do get a bit of privacy, which Zuko values enough to give up a slice of the show for. They can still see most of the stage, and Zuko puts Sokka as a buffer between himself and the rest of the audience. The last thing he wants is for someone to spot him and to cause a scene. 

“My mother used to take me here sometimes,” Zuko admits quietly. “We would go to a lot of plays where we were the honoured guests and all, but they wouldn’t show us some of the plays that they would put on for the general public – too violent, or maybe they tread a little too close to the toes of the Fire Lord. They called it satire but there were sometimes a few revolutionary messages buried under it all. But my mother still wanted me to see them… so we would sneak in here, and act like we were anyone else.” They’d sat in this same corner – Zuko thumbs the edge of his seat. He used to sit here when he was a kid, too. 

“Huh,” Sokka says thoughtfully. “Your mum sounds like she was pretty cool.” 

She’d wanted Zuko to see more than what his father was telling him – the real Fire Nation, not just the one that was prettied up and presented during a war meeting. Zuko still carries some of the lessons of those plays around in his heart, and they were where he first learned about the Blue Spirit. Without that prompting, would he have ever gotten up the courage to go it alone, undercover? Without her, would he have even cared at all?

“She was,” Zuko says, heart clenching. “Now hush. It’s about to start.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Sokka says, and starts to stuff his face with the food that they were given.

* * *

“Okay… so was that supposed to be good, or bad?” 

Zuko rolls his eyes at him. They’re sitting on the edge of the harbour, a spot that Zuko had found by himself after coming back to the capital. They’re right near the water, but it’s a good drop down, so he can’t put his feet in it to cool off. After so long travelling around the world, he’s still really not used to how hot the Fire Nation can get. Going for a swim sounds like a pretty good end to the day, honestly. 

“Not to say that it was bad!” Sokka backpedals, waving his hands about in a ridiculous manner. Zuko has no idea how he gets people to treat him seriously. “But, er, I don’t think I really _got_ it. At all.” 

“There were a lot of references to old Fire Nation poetry,” Zuko admits. “Which is why I thought it would be good to consider when we’re looking at the new bill. If you didn’t grow up knowing them, a lot of it probably went over your head.” 

“A play full of Fire Nation references,” Sokka grumbles. “No wonder it made no sense. You still didn’t answer my question, though.” 

“Well,” Zuko says, drawing the word out. He doesn’t really want to commit to saying it, but...

“So it _was_ bad!” Sokka exclaims, vindicated. “I knew it. No offence, but the only good poetry is haiku.” 

“The second arc is based on the works of a famous haiku writer of the second dynasty, Geroji from the South Islands,” Zuko tells him, like that one fact will be able to change Sokka’s mind when Zuko doesn’t really think that the play was that good. “But yeah. I’ve seen better, and better of that play specifically. Though it was one that my father went to, so they probably practised it a _lot_. And had a bigger budget.” And were scared shitless thinking of what would happen if they screwed anything up. Zuko shivers slightly, despite the heat of the night. Maybe he does prefer the version of the play that he just saw. 

“But if they had national funding then they’d have a bigger budget,” Sokka says, squinting his eyes thoughtfully. “So it would be better?” 

“Theoretically,” Zuko sighs. “I think I’ve been disillusioned by wrangling so many people from the army for so long. I don’t know how to make sure that the money that we give them really goes to paying the actors and writers and improving the sets and costumes, and doesn’t end up as a bonus for the landlords.” 

He knows that Amara would love to expand the amount of writers that she publishes. It was one of the things that sparked this idea in the first place. But logistics are tricky, and he can’t just dump a load of money into Amara’s publishing house without someone finding out and calling favouritism. Plus, he doesn’t just want to improve Amara’s publishing business – he wants to improve the industry, across the entirety of the Fire Nation. Plus, Amara is good enough that she doesn’t need his favouritism to expand. 

“You given them tax breaks yet?” Sokka asks. After the play Zuko had led them to a smoke-oak house, and had bought half a dozen of the small candies, another Fire Nation specialty. Sokka is chomping through them now, wrinkling his nose as the smoke from the centre is released when he bites into them. Zuko steals one from him and shows him the proper way to eat it, inhaling the smoke purposefully instead of choking on it. 

“Tax breaks?” Zuko asks, half amused and half completely shocked that _Sokka_ of all people is suggesting this. 

“That’s what they do in the Earth Kingdom. Gets everyone excited,” Sokka says, shrugging. “We don’t really do that in the Water Tribes – well, at least not in the South – but I thought I’d suggest it. You do have taxes here, right?” 

“Yes, we have taxes,” Zuko mumbles. “Everyone loves to argue about them.” He could put it in the budget for next year, maybe. He’d have to think of a way to sell it to the finance department. He should write to Uncle and ask for advice on the proper wording, he might have some ideas of how to frame it so that it gets through. It’s not a terrible idea, though he can’t believe that it’s Sokka who brought this up. 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Sokka says, offering him another candy. Zuko takes it and crunches into it without inhaling the smoke and coughing it all back up, like Sokka had with his first two. It’s a small luxury from his childhood that he rarely indulges in. The flavour is bittersweet, and it brings up memories that echo it. 

“You said you wanted to hit a publishing house after this, right?” Sokka asks. 

“Yeah,” Zuko agrees. He licks the lingering sweetness off his fingers and grins at Sokka. “The best ones don’t open until the midnight hour.” 

“Okay, now I’m excited,” Sokka says, rubbing his hands together. “Spooky bookstores that don’t open until the middle of the night, what could possibly go wrong? You know what happened the last time I went to a library, right?”

“Don’t tell me that the Spirit Library was the last time you went to an actual library.” 

“Yeah,” Sokka says. “I don’t really get the need for books. You gotta pass on the important stuff to your kids directly, you know?” 

“If you don’t know anyone who can tell you about something, then you can’t learn it,” Zuko points out. “If you write it down in a book, then everyone will be able to get access to it.” 

“Yeah, everyone including the next tribe over,” Sokka says. “Sharing within the tribe is good. Outside it, not so much.” 

“How many different tribes are in the South?” Zuko asks, squinting at him. 

Sokka is quiet for a few seconds. “A lot less than there used to be,” he finally says. “Maybe you’re right. We used to always be fighting with each other, but after the raids there’s not enough people to compete for all the resources. I don’t think there’s been a raid on our tribe from another since my father was born.” He makes a face. “I don’t know if we’re going to all band together like the Northern tribe, though. Their city is super weird. And we don’t have enough waterbenders to make it work, either.” 

“I still haven’t been back to the Northern tribe,” Zuko says. 

“What, since you tried to kidnap Aang?” 

“I _did_ kidnap him,” Zuko corrects. “You just… caught up to me.” 

Sokka laughs. “Is that what we’re calling it? I’m pretty sure Katara just kicked your butt.” 

Zuko grumbles to himself. Katara had the _advantage_ , that was all. 

“So, are we going to this mysterious bookshop?” Sokka asks him, stuffing the last smoke-oak candy into his mouth. 

Zuko lifts an eyebrow. “I just said that they’re not going to open until midnight. That means we have another hour to wait, Sokka.” 

Sokka dusts his hands off against his tunic. “You can give me a more thorough tour of the city in the meantime, then!” 

Zuko snorts as he stands up. He won’t turn down the opportunity to snoop around the city a little bit more. The more he knows, the more use he can be to everyone as the Fire Lord. “Alright – what do you want to see?” 

“Well we already shopped and ate… so obviously I want to see the coolest sight around!” 

He’s going to be tired tomorrow when he has to stand up in front of the council and give his address. But Sokka’s excited grin as he looks out over the firefly fountain, and the chance to raid a bookstore for more of the terrible romance Mai continually teases him is definitely worth it. 

* * *

_Amara,_

_My apologies, but I have no major updates for you yet on the manuscript. My thanks again for the work that you put in reviewing it, and I promise that I will try to send through further correspondence on the matter._

_I’m glad to hear that you are unharmed, though saddened to hear that the publishing house took a hit. If you need anything from me beyond my thoughts on my manuscript, then please don’t hesitate to ask. You’ve been so kind to me, if I can repay that in any meaningful way, I would be very appreciative. I myself was in Caldera town during the entirety of the storm, so my safety was not jeopardised._

_I hear that the Fire Lord is sending further resources to those islands that were the most damaged in the tornado. If you need any aid, then please request it, and let others know that the opportunity is there. My thoughts are with you and everyone who may have been harmed over the last month._

_As always, my thanks,_

_Dante Basco_

* * *

The bookstore is lit by a dim candle that sits just within the entrance. Zuko pushes open the door and quietly shapes the flame at the man behind the front desk. The man’s eyes skate over Zuko before they land on Sokka and widen slightly. Zuko has already walked past before the man can take a longer look at him. 

“Where’s some of that haiku you were talking about?” Sokka asks, almost jumping along as he follows Zuko deeper into the shop. These places were closed because literature was not protected under his father’s rule, but another part of it is pure practicality. With a land of firebenders, any shop full of paper is inherently at risk. By only being open in the dead of night, the shop only attracts patrons who are truly committed; that doesn’t often include young children who are prone to spitting sparks. 

“Poetry is at the back, I think,” Zuko says. They wander around until Zuko finds the book of poetry that was referenced during the play for Sokka, and then he ducks off to do some browsing of his own. He reads even more rarely than he writes. It’s an even guiltier pleasure, a hobby that doesn’t include him being productive at all. But keeping abreast of what is being published, what his people are reading and what is popular… maybe he should try and make a little more time for it. 

He picks up something new that is being touted as a bestseller, and then just browses. He recognises most of the titles in this section from either reading them when he was younger or just from when he’s been in here before looking at what’s on offer. There isn’t much movement in the publishing space, probably because a lot of the publishing houses are still pivoting from creating propaganda to creating anything but. The play today had been something along those lines – Zuko remembers the first half from when he was younger, but the second half had been adapted to cast Fire Lord Sozin in quite a negative light. He should be glad that they dare to even show it. If something like that had been public when his father was in power, he’s certain that everyone who worked at that playhouse would have been killed. 

He takes a breath to steady himself and steers around an older woman who is reading while leaning against a bookshelf. He trails his fingers over the spines of the books, letting them whisper their stories to him. Almost against his will, he stops on his own manuscript when he finds it on the shelf. Well, it’s not a manuscript anymore, but a properly bound book. He has one in his room that Amara gave him, but it’s different seeing it on the shelf, in a bookstore where anyone could walk in and pick it up and buy it. He pulls it off the shelf, and thinks that it feels heavier in his hands than he remembers. Stupid. Of course it isn’t any heavier, or any different at all. 

“What’cha got there?” Sokka asks. Zuko resists the urge to jump and stuff the book back on the shelf – that would be _far_ more suspicious. 

“A book by a new author,” he says, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. After resisting the urge to attack politicians nearly every day of his life, he’s pretty much got that down, at least. “Under a pen name, I believe. Whoever it is, they’ve only started publishing since the end of the war, and they’ve become very popular quite quickly.” 

“Huh, so this is the new stuff?” Sokka asks, taking the book from him. “We should take it as a benchmark for things that have been put out since you became Fire Lord.”

“Yell that a little louder,” Zuko hisses, pulse pounding in his ears. Sokka looks around looking slightly chastened, until he realises that he can’t see anyone within earshot. 

“It’s fine,” he tells him, even though it’s not for more than one reason. He doesn’t want Sokka reading his work, as silly as that sounds. There’s no way that Sokka would be able to, or would think to, link it back to him. Maybe he can steal it out of Sokka’s pile later. 

“Sirs,” a woman says behind them. Zuko turns and fades away, Sokka stepping forward easily to cover him almost completely. “May I help you?” 

“Hey,” Sokka says easily. “Browsing at the moment – do you have anything to recommend?” 

“Oh well you’re holding one of our most popular titles,” the woman says. “I strongly recommend you take it with you if you’re looking for something contemporary…” 

Zuko flees to the other side of the shop so he won’t have to listen. Amara tells him that people like his work, but hearing it unprompted is something else entirely. He really will have to steal that book from Sokka before he reads it. 

* * *

_Dante,_

_You rascal! Sending through a letter without any thoughts on the revisions. I worked hard on those you know, I hope that you are taking the proper care with them. I’m letting you know that your book is selling very fast, and I am being pressured from almost all sides as to when a sequel will be coming. I would like to give them all the good news, but you know that I don’t share any progress until the author is comfortable with it. May I have your permission to start telling people that the sequel to your first book is almost complete, currently going through editing?_

_My thanks for letting us know that there was help available directly from the Fire Lord. After everything that has happened because of those men, it is good that finally we are also getting aid right to where it is needed. We don’t need anything much here at the publishing house since most of the damage was some very light flooding that happened when a nearby stream overfilled it’s banks._

_Thank you for letting me know that you were safe. I have heard back from my other authors, and I am very happy to be able to tell you that they were not injured. Their post was merely delayed due to bad weather, but I’m sure you can imagine the scolding that I gave them when I wrote them back! Please also imagine the same to you, if your next letter does not contain anything of substance about your manuscript._

_I look forward to hearing from you soon,_

_Amara_

* * *

“I’ll handle this,” Mai tells him, flashing the papers in his face. “You were never good at organising events, and I doubt that’s changed. Ty Lee and I will make sure it all goes perfectly boringly.” 

Zuko blows out a breath. They’re standing in the halls, next to a window that overlooks the gardens. 

“I have to attend the fishing council tonight,” Zuko tells her. “But we should have dinner after.” 

She smiles at him, something fast and fleeting and genuine. “That would be nice.” 

Zuko hesitates for a second, wondering if he should say it. Mai uses the roll of papers to hit him on the nose. 

“Stop overthinking,” she says. “How many times do I have to tell you? What’s wrong?” 

“I was just wondering if we could find some local talent for the entertainment,” Zuko says. “Someone from Caldera town, who hasn’t… who doesn’t have a large presence.” 

“Great way to piss off the idiots who would care they aren’t getting a performance by the best in the land,” Mai points out. “Ty Lee will _definitely_ know someone who fits that bill.” 

“I think it’s a good idea to get more exposure for someone,” Zuko says. “It’s not just about annoying some of the Generals.” 

Mai looks at him silently for a second. “Every time I forget how good you can be, you make me remember. Of course.” 

“I’m just worried that we aren’t invigorating the arts sector as much as we are infrastructure and agriculture,” Zuko says, frowning. He looks out of the window, but they’re too high up and at the wrong angle for him to see the turtleduck pond. “People need something to look forward to that isn’t work.” 

“Ty Lee’s circus is doing the rounds around the southern islands at the moment,” Mai reminds him. “And I know there’s another in town right now, and one out west. A few of the playhouses down in the city are still showing, aren’t they?” 

“They are,” Zuko agrees. 

“We could make a day of it,” Mai suggests. “If we show some interest, that will generate news. People follow what we do.” 

“Yes,” Zuko says, thinking of how he hasn’t quite broken the Fire Nation people of that habit yet. That maybe he never will. “That’s true. You hate plays, though.” 

Mai sighs dramatically. “Well, if it’s for the greater good… and if you cuddled me the whole time… I suppose I could bear it.” 

Zuko turns back to her, snorting. “You’re that interested? Something must have caught your eye.” 

“Maybe,” Mai says. “I’ll see what I can do about fitting it into the schedule. And I’ll get Ty Lee to find the most promising young star without an audience for the party.” 

“Okay,” Zuko agrees. His outing with Sokka already seems so far away, even though it’s only been a few days. He would like to go out with Mai to see a play, but it’s like he told Sokka – it’s likely to be sanitised and over produced. But if they can encourage more people to go, to put some of their disposable income into the arts, then it will be worth it. “I trust you to pick a good one.” 

“You know me,” Mai says, and she leans forward to press a soft kiss against his lips before slipping away. Zuko flicks through the papers that she had left him with, seeing what else needs his attention before the end of the day. There’s only another hour before his next meeting, and he doesn’t want anything to cut into his time with Mai during dinner tonight. 

She and Ty Lee will come with appropriate entertainment. Zuko sighs, tucks his papers under his arm, and puts it out of his mind. He has other things that he needs to concentrate on, and he’s solved this problem. For now, the issue can sit on the back burner, with Zuko keeping an eye on it to make sure it’s not going to boil over. 

* * *

It’s another week before they speak about Zuko’s idea again. Sokka has been a light in Zuko’s meetings, unafraid to ask for clarification of dense things that risk doing Zuko’s head in, and taking no bullshit from either the old guard or the new ministers that Zuko has brought in. He and Mai get along like a house on fire, which Zuko is both glad and scared about. They’re conspiring together, he knows. He’s probably going to be on the receiving end of whatever they come up with, so he tries to keep both of them happy so it won’t be too crazy. 

Parliament has just recessed, which means that Zuko has more time than ever to sit behind his desk and fight with the wording on the new legislation he wants to bring in. Sokka brings him snacks and news from the guard and tells him about the little things that happen in the palace that Zuko is never around to see. Zuko is trying to think up a way to tell him how grateful he is and how much he’s already dreading Sokka leaving, but he’s never been that good with spoken words. Maybe another outing down to Caldera town would interest him...

“Hey Zuko,” Sokka says. Zuko is resisting the urge to beat his head against his desk in frustration as he writes a letter to one of the imperial cabinet members. He should fire them all, he thinks almost hysterically. He doesn’t want to write or talk or think about the ‘proper’ courting rituals that he and Mai should be going through ever again. Apparently they’re breaching a thousand rules of etiquette by hanging out together unchaperoned before they’re married, but Zuko has at least fifty things due by the end of the month and he really doesn’t give a shit about what anyone else thinks of his and Mai’s relationship. They’re just dating. Like teenagers. If it keeps on – good. But he doesn’t want to force Mai into a decision before they’re twenty. The two of them have been through enough, and Zuko has made _this_ executive decision. 

“Hm?” he answers Sokka, mostly not paying attention to whatever he’s doing. How to tell this guy to fuck off in the most polite way possible? He’s never been one for words, but he can’t go around throwing fire in people’s faces. And he knows how much words can hurt. He just needs to think of the right phrasing… Or he could just ask one of the guards to put this on Mai’s desk. She would absolutely eviscerate him. Yes, that sounds like a good idea to him. He tucks it under the rest of his mail, making a note to himself to add an address and envelope later. Or he could just take it over to Mai when he sees her later today. 

“You’ll never guess what I found,” Sokka says. “Looks like someone used to own this office before you did. Left this big book here! All their notes in it too…” 

Zuko feels his heart rate absolutely skyrocket into the stratosphere. 

“Sokka,” he says, very carefully turning around. Sokka is holding his manuscript, holding it open at a random page about halfway through, and is peering at the notes that Amara has left for him. 

“These are all handwritten too,” Sokka says. “Wait a second…” 

Zuko snatches the book out of Sokka’s hands, closing it and tucking it under his arm. He deliberately stares at the wall, because Sokka is staring at him; not the way he normally looks, like he’s a friend to lovingly annoy, but like he’s one of the very strange puzzles he fixates on sometimes. 

“Zuko,” Sokka says. “I’ve been here long enough to know what your handwriting looks like. Did _you_ write that?” 

Drat. Once Sokka’s onto something, he very rarely lets it go. “...maybe,” Zuko mumbles, resisting the urge to scuff his foot against the floor. He isn’t ten anymore, and Sokka isn’t scolding him because he’d fallen asleep in the palace garden. 

“That is _so cool!_ ” Sokka exclaims. He makes grabby motions at the book, and Zuko spends a minute trying to keep it away from him. However Sokka is determined, clever, and not running on two hours of sleep, so he does finally manage to snatch it off of Zuko. 

“This looks like a lot of effort,” Sokka says, leafing through the book while keeping Zuko away with his spare hand. “Your handwriting is pretty bad, if you’re going to be going around writing whole books you should probably clean it up. And who’s this in the margins?” 

“Sticky notes are not margins,” Zuko grunts. Maybe if he ducked under his arm and reached out with the other – Sokka blocks his attempt at stealing the manuscript back. He’s really glad the door is closed right now, because if anyone saw them play fighting like this over a messy book he really would never live it down. As it is he’s going to have trouble making Sokka promise not to tell anyone else that he found out about this. 

“Don’t try to distract me with book terminology! The square things with someone else’s handwriting, you know what I mean. Who else knows that you’re writing out all this?” 

“No one,” Zuko says begrudgingly. “We’ve never met in person, so she doesn’t know who I am.” 

Sokka jumps back over to stand in front of his desk and Zuko collapses in his chair with a sigh. He doesn’t think he’s going to get it back without setting anything on fire, and while the palace is mostly fireproof as a precaution of having a lot of firebenders living here, the paper that is scattered all around this room is not. And he doesn’t have another copy of that manuscript yet, so if it goes up in flames it’s gone forever. 

Sokka flips a page, peering down at it curiously. “First of all that’s spicy, second of all even _Mai_ doesn’t know? And third of all this is the type of thing that is inevitably going to come out, trust me on that one.” 

“Just because you’ve travelled around the world with Aang doesn’t mean that all secrets aren’t safe.” 

“Maybe, but they’re not safe from _Aang_. Who definitely is going to be here sooner rather than later, and who has crazy Avatar powers that include ferreting out every secret within a half mile of him. Plus as soon as he realises that you’re working yourself to the bone, he’s going to try and come up with a way to make you take time off, and this would definitely qualify.” 

Zuko thinks about what he knows of Aang, and concludes that Sokka’s assessment isn’t that far off. 

“How would it make me take time off?” he asks, reshuffling the papers on his desk that had gotten knocked over in their tussle just so he has something to do with his hands. “It’s not even done yet.” 

“You said you haven’t met this person?” Sokka asks. “Sounds like a field trip to me. And Aang would come up with some compelling reason that you had to go, he’s good at that too.” 

“He’s good at being manipulative when he wants to,” Zuko agrees, sighing. 

“This looks pretty far along,” Sokka says, flipping another page and half lifting up a sticky note. “So what are these? Notes? Look like they had a problem with this sentence conflicting with something else that happened earlier in the story.”

Zuko winces. Inconsistencies are his least favourite thing to try and fix. “They’re from my editor, and yes, they’re her notes on how she thinks it can be improved. I haven’t had time to go over the revisions yet,” Zuko says. “I only got that back a few weeks ago. And you know how crazy it’s been.” 

“I still can’t believe that your parliament has ‘breaks’ for everyone to go home and lounge around in their summer houses,” Sokka says. “Who makes decisions when they’re needed? And how come you’re still working?” 

“I can rule on emergency provisions if necessary,” Zuko explains to him, again. They’ve been over this. “But otherwise everything waits until spring. I’m also supposed to be on break, but there’s too much to do. I have to get everything organised before parliament comes back into session, or I won’t get anything done at all this season.” 

“I suppose we had a break of sorts in the winter,” Sokka muses. “When we were all holed up because of the snow season, no one really made decisions about anything.” 

“I don’t think that’s quite the same thing.” 

“Maybe,” Sokka says, flapping his hand. “But you can use the time to work on this! You need to do something besides stare at paper all day. Wait a second...this is just staring at more paper...” 

“I need to spend the time working on the new laws that I want to introduce when parliament reconvenes,” Zuko corrects him. “When I find a spare moment or if I can’t concentrate on legislation anymore, then I’ll work on that. It’s a distraction.” 

“The best type of distraction,” Sokka says. “You work too hard. Even this is work, just a different type. When was the last time you napped away an afternoon?” 

“A while,” Zuko admits, thinking of the garden out the back of the palace. He can’t remember the last time he walked through there because he wanted to, not because he was running late for a meeting. “I don’t have the time.” 

“You do,” Sokka says, serious all of a sudden. “You just won’t let anyone do any of the work that you could be delegating to them.” 

“That’s not true,” Zuko protests. “I give you work to do.” 

“Yeah, and keep all the busywork for yourself,” Sokka says. “Come on, you don’t have any secretaries? Mai has five secretaries, they scare me shitless when I have to go over there and talk to her. All of them have the _exact_ same glare as her, except it’s multiplied by all five of them at the same time. It’s spooky!” 

Zuko has met all of Mai’s secretaries, and while he thinks they’re capable of a good stare, Mai’s is far better. He tries to change track in order to distract Sokka from descending into vivid descriptions of how all their stares differ from each other and yet really had the same ‘vibe’. Whatever that means. “I know that you’re smart enough to give me actual opinions about things I care about, so I give you the tricky stuff.” 

“Aha! So you admit that you don’t care about the other stuff.” 

Zuko wonders if it’s worth the diplomatic incident if he leans over and strangles Sokka. He isn’t getting it. “That’s not how this works.” 

“You can say that until the penguin sledders come home, but it’s not really true.” Sokka finally puts his manuscript down on Zuko’s desk, and Zuko snatches it up. He really hasn’t had the time to think about it since he got it back from Amara. Especially with Sokka here, he doesn’t want to waste any time when they could be using his time to the maximum effect. Sokka puts his hands on his hips and arranges his face into a pout. He probably thinks it makes him look intimidating, but instead Zuko just wants to tell him that he’s cute. “Why won’t you get some assistants in here? They can do more than paperwork too, or other stuff if you _really_ don’t want them touching your precious notes for some reason. Have Mai pick them out. She’ll make sure she only gets good ones.” 

“I can’t,” Zuko grits out. He doesn’t know how to say; that his Uncle entrusted this to him. That he doesn’t know who he can trust, that isn’t in his closest circle of friends. That every person in the Fire nation has their eyes on him, and that he knows that eventually he’s going to screw up and he needs to stave that off for as long as possible. That introducing extra people into his day is a wild unknown that could send his entire schedule into disarray. That he doesn’t have the energy to check all of their work and manage them when he could just do it all himself. 

“Hey.” Sokka puts his hands down on the desk, leaning forward into Zuko’s space, his eyebrows drawn together tightly. “You don’t have to do this by yourself. I’m here to help for the season, and Mai is out there, batting for your team every day. Aang scares everyone straight when he arrives! Remember when he got Appa to chew on that guy’s head dramatically?” 

Zuko sighs longingly just thinking about it. “The cabinet was so well behaved for an entire _week_ when that happened.” 

“See! Not to mention my sister. She’d do anything if it meant getting back at some random Fire Nation nobles.” 

Zuko looks down at the book in his hands. “Most of them aren’t that bad. They just… argue a lot. And we disagree sometimes, about what’s best for the direction of the Fire Nation. I think we finally removed all the ministers who were still in favour of war at the start of this year, but just because they agree the war is over doesn’t mean that they think we lost. Or that we should build up trade with the Earth Kingdom, or that the Water Tribes have anything that we want…” 

“I know,” Sokka says. “And we’re working on it. It’s not as simple as bonking one guy on the head anymore. Really, it never was.” 

They sit in silence for a minute. Zuko closes his eyes and breathes in, feeling the hum of the candles that are scattered around the corners of the room. It’s not great to have them too close to the papers in case something happens and he doesn’t notice right away, but it’s still nice to feel them there. He settles himself into the beat of the fire, and lets the tension drain away from his neck. 

“So what’s the book about?” Sokka finally asks. 

“It’s actually a sequel,” Zuko mumbles. “The first one is already published.” 

“What! And you didn’t tell me?” 

“No one knows,” Zuko says. “I use it as a way to forget about... everything else. Could you please not tell anyone?” 

They stare at each other for a few seconds, Sokka growing ever more agitated and Zuko employing more of his pleading expression to try and convince him. 

“Alright,” Sokka finally buckles. “But when Aang somehow figures it out, I’m going to say I told you so.” 

“And when he doesn’t, I’ll tell you the same thing,” Zuko can’t resist saying. 

Sokka rolls his eyes, completely over the top with the action. 

“It’s about the dragons,” Zuko blurts, wanting to tell someone. “After what Aang and I saw when we went to rekindle our fire… there’s the possibility that dragons will be out there in the world again one day. And when that happens, I don’t want people to be afraid of them. So I used what I knew, and wrote that.” 

He puts the success of his stories down to the dragons. It was hard to try and put down the wonder and awe that he’d felt when he had first seen the dragons for the first time. But even a shadow of that feeling on the page was more than enough for the casual reader, who had been drawn into the tale even further with the otherworldly descriptions. The dragons belong to the islands of the Fire Nation, and Zuko doesn’t think that he alone regrets that there are none left to soar through the skies above them. 

“That sounds awesome,” Sokka says, eyes sparkling. “New order of business for the day – you’re going to take me somewhere I can buy your book, and then I’m going to read it dramatically to you, and then I’m going to get to add my own notes to your draft for the sequel. And you’re going to organise for us to eat lunch outside and you’re going to have a nap while I do that. Okay?” 

“You actually already have it,” Zuko mumbles. “When we went out last week you picked it up from the bookstore.” 

“No way!” Sokka exclaims. “Wait – was that the one that you were looking at, the one that the lady spent like, ten minutes trying to sell to me about how great it was?” 

Zuko refuses to answer that. 

“Dude,” Sokka says, looking like the cat-owl that got the cream. “Awesome. Step one done, then. Come on, let’s go back to my room and we can move on to the dramatic reading part of my plan.”

“Sokka, there’s still so much I need to do before the recess ends–”

“And we can get it done tomorrow,” Sokka says, gently. He comes around the desk to stand in front of Zuko, to reach out and take his hands. Zuko lets him, feels the rough places that mark Sokka’s long hours of practise with the sword and his boomerang. Sokka looks at him earnestly, an expression that is in extremely short supply around the palace. Sometimes Zuko wonders if he’s just taking advantage of Sokka and how open he is, but when he’s standing here with Sokka looking at him like that, he can’t lie to himself. Sokka is here because he cares, and because he’s Zuko’s friend. Zuko really doesn’t deserve him. 

“Sokka…” 

“I can already think of three things on your to do pile that won’t get addressed in the first week of parliament, so they can wait for now. And you will take this afternoon off, or I will blackmail you with my new knowledge by threatening to tell Mai about it.” 

Zuko sighs, but he can’t keep a smile from coming over his face. “Well. How can I argue with that?” 

“That’s what I like to hear,” Sokka says, satisfied, and Zuko laughs. 

* * *

_Amara,_

_Please find attached to this missive a revised copy of my manuscript. I have overhauled the second arc entirely, as well as making minor changes to characterisation throughout. I have also added another character – I know you said the cast list should be shortened, but upon reflection I do truly believe this is for the best. I look forward to reading your response. Your notes were greatly helpful in ordering my thoughts and they provided a much needed outside perspective._

_Speaking of other perspectives, I have also gained another editor on my side. He has travelled widely and is very enthusiastic about my writing. You’ll find his notes on the manuscript alongside my own. I promise that he will not leak the manuscript to the public. I trust in his discretion completely. I hope you do not mind him helping with your job._

_I am gladdened to hear of the good work that has been done by the Fire Lord’s people. Here in Caldera town we hear much, but I do not see the results of such talk very often. It’s good to know that there is follow through behind the speeches._

_Since with this full edit of the text I believe we are closing in on a final draft, yes you may begin to circulate promotional material for the sequel. Please send anything that you publish through to me as well, though I trust in you to strike where it will be felt the most._

_As always, you have my deepest thanks._

_Dante Basco_

**Author's Note:**

> Dante Basco is the name of Zuko's VA; I decided that it's fitting that Zuko took that as his pen name for this fic. 
> 
> Drop me a line if you enjoyed!


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